16 January 2005

First order of business for Washington State Democrats, who now control both legislative chambers and the governorship (through irregular means), is to target some of Republican Dino Rossi's biggest supporters for political revenge.

One bill would wipe out the GOP-supporting Building Industry Association of Washington through laser-targeted legislation. The group has provided substantial recent assistance to Rossi:

OLYMPIA — Democratic lawmakers are pushing legislation that would take a multimillion-dollar bite out of one of their party's biggest political enemies — the Building Industry Association of Washington.

The move sets up a bitter showdown between the BIAW, a powerful conservative force, and the liberal Washington State Labor Council, which has been trying for years to clip the association's wings.

And it comes at a time when the home-builders group is at the forefront of the state's biggest political controversy, temporarily dedicating its operations to unseating Democratic Gov. Christine Gregoire.

Rep. Cary Condotta of Wenatchee, the ranking Republican on the Commerce and Labor Committee, called the bill, which would reduce the BIAW's income from workers'-compensation refunds, a "blatant political attack" on one of the GOP's biggest supporters. And he called the timing of the legislation "very suspect."